Over the two editions of the IPL, I have greatly admired Warne the Captain. His captaincy has been wonderfully spontaneous, aggressive and articulate. His ability to assess situations and think ahead of the game has put him in a league of his own. The fact that he has tasted tremendous success with a bunch of virtually unknown Indian cricketers speaks volumes of his ability to bring the best out of his men. Munaf Patel and Yusuf Pathan have played better under him than for India, and that is a huge testament to Warne. Ravindra Jadeja too has blossomed. In fact, every player under him has been able to express himself. Now with Rajasthan Royals knocked out, the IPL has lost its chief charm. The remainder of the tournament will miss him. Badly.

It is difficult to comprehend how such a self-confident cricketer is so profoundly insecure off the field. He is such a typical Aussie with his in-your-face kind of personality. He plays to win and enjoys being the leader of the pack. He enjoys the limelight but is susceptible to it its pitfalls. Such a paradox!

Many have called him Australia's greatest captain that never was - even before he made his name as a skipper with Hampshire and the Rajasthan Royals. Even Warne counts not captaining Australia as one of his career regrets. He writes in his autobiography:

I have given my heart and soul to Australian cricket and like to think I've earned the respect of the ACB. I have helped to put a few backsides on seats and made spin bowling more interesting. I have played in an aggressive, animated, emotional way which reflects the pride I take in representing my country. That should have counted for something, I would have thought.

Warne's charms and special talents have kept him in good stead even during school. He went to Mentone Grammar in Melbourne, was the leader of its Second XI and was destined to take over the reigns of the First XI as well. But his school demanded good passes in at least four subjects to pass the High School Certificate (HSC) and be eligible for the sixth grade. Warne failed the test. It is thought that he was never interested in studies and to keep him in line to take over their First XI the school had to accommodate exceptions in order to make Warne eligible for sixth grade. Warne went to the sixth grade and also went on to lead Mentone's First XI to victory. In fact the Warne-led Mentone First XI remained unbeaten in the competition. The school's 1987 yearbook states:

Shane Warne's captaincy was to be one of the major reasons for our successful season. He believed there was only one way to play the game and that was to attack. He led by example and was able to get the best out of the team. He was justly rewarded with the captaincy of AGS Fist XI.

It's strange that someone with his track record as a captain in school cricket, grade cricket and later for Victoria, never became a captain for Australia in Tests. He was vice-captain for quite a while and even captained Australia in One Day games when the regular captain was unavailable. He was overlooked for captaincy when Taylor retired. Warne's off-field affairs - nurses, playboy models, waitresses - and his apparent disregard for team protocol and curfew on drinking during games weren't helping his quest to become the captain. His dislike for coaches and military style fielding drills also didn't win him many friends among the selectors. Later on, drugs (or a pill given by his Mum as he claimed) were to become a problem as well.

Ian Chappell though has been a great admirer of Warne as captain. He believed that Steve Waugh was a selfish cricketer and Australian cricket would be best served if Warne took over when Taylor retired. In his book Chappelli Speaks Out he recalls an incident which he believed gave an insight into Warne as a cricketer. It was the time when Warne was recovering from a finger injury and was bowling 30 minutes every day to get back to match fitness. Chappell asked if he could have a hit against him and he narrated thus:

Hogg gave me a few outside off and I hit him through the covers. Warne was smart. He only tossed the ball up when he bowled a middle and leg line. When he got to off stump they were quicker and flatter.

I reckon he saw Hogg give me room outside off and decided I wouldn't get any there. That gave me a great insight into his thinking. A very smart cricketer, Shane Warne.

Whatever be Warne's regrets as a non captain of Australia - Hampshire and Rajasthan must be immensely happy to have invested in him as their leader. He has shown that he knows how to make the most of the talent at his disposal. Some captains have struggled because of injuries to key players. Many have been unable to change the team strategy because of the lack of form of some players. Few have been able to match Warne for making the most out of the players he puts out on the park. Many have been able to rise above their capacity for him. Many, understandably, credit their success to him.

When Warne finally hangs his boots and is done with cricket as a player, he will have two contrasting feelings within him: Regret that his skill was never allowed to flower by the Australian selectors and relief that he was finally able to establish his genius as a great leader. And he has the IPL to thank for that.

Goutham Chakravarthi is a guest writer for Cricbuzz. He will be writing exclusively for Cricbuzz throughout the IPL.